Country diary: how a glance at cuckoo spit led to trouble

Stamford, Lincolnshire: This white foam, a seasonal signal, is being used to map potential infectionThe light catches something in the lavender, something snared on the stems, something bright, like a flung fistful of little jewels. Balls of white foam, bright in brilliant after-rain light. A seasonal signal, though a discordant one: cuckoo spit.This folk name is today a compound association set adrift: so called because its appearance is said to coincide with the first calls of the cuckoo, though for many of us the latter is becoming rarer and more unpredictable; I haven't heard one this year. Continue reading...